Bronx Zoo organization complicit in abuse of Bayaka “Pygmies”

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which is one of the world’s oldest conservation organizations and is based at the Bronx Zoo, is complicit in the abuse of Bayaka “Pygmies” in the Republic of Congo.

WCS helped create and now manages a national park on the Bayaka’s ancestral homelands. Inside and outside the park, it funds and equips violent anti-poaching squads.

The Bayaka are being illegally evicted from their forest homes and face harassment, arrest, beatings and even torture at the hands of these squads. Despite being aware of the abuse for over 18 years, WCS has taken no effective action to stop it.